salt water lionfish is??

[pmipunisher]

i was looking in my tropical fish magazine and i found an article that was about piranhas with the purple "race stripe" and i happen to see a lionfish so i had come to the conclusion that lionfish are considered a type of piranha or does the magazine like to play tricks on me???

[jonah]

The column is called "Top of the Food Chain". It focuses on predators, not just piranha. I believe the photo used in the title is just to illustrate predators from both fresh and salt.

[pmipunisher]

yup thats the one o so its not necessarily a type of piranha but somewhat of piranha tendencies or characteristics to it thank i wasnt too sure

[barramundi]

The only thing lionfish & piranha have in common is they're predators. The lionfish is an ambush hunter that relies on stealth & sudden surprise to catch it's prey. Piranha on the other hand rely on sheer ferocity & numbers, in the case of larger targets, to overcome it's prey. From what jonah described, the article just had the picture of the lionfish as a "predator" but not intending to relate it to the piranha in any way, other than it too being a "predator".

[punkypuffer]

salt water lionfish are cartilaginous animals like sharks are..... they are in no way related to a piranha (except the obvious 'being a fish' thing)

[thirty2cent]

are lionfish poisonious?

[pmipunisher]

yes they are poisonous ok thanks all i wasnt sure cause i knew the article said predators but i thought they were referring the piranha as the predator only not any other but now i get it

[punkypuffer]

they are very very poisonous if you touch them your whole hand can swell up!

[pmipunisher]

when i got my dwarf lionfish the guy at the store said his hand swelled up for about 2 weeks or so my lionfish ate 2 of 3 damsels and 3 of 3 chromies and 2 hermit crabs i havent seen my cleaner shrimp in a while either but i heard he hides until fish need to be cleansed and my fiddler and my horseshoe crab i never see as soon as we put them in they dug themselves into the sand from time to time we see the horseshoe come out and swim upside down for a while i think with bigger fish and smaller lionfish the poison doesnt work as well becuase i saw a tang or a some type of good size fish trying to bite the quills of a small volitan but i dunno

[Victor Creed]

Another old thread I felt the need to shed some light on, the Lionfish/Turkeyfish/Scorpionfish is not particularly deadly and the envenoming can lead to extreme pain, and possibly headaches, vomiting, and breathing difficulties. HOWEVER, this is the same principle of a Black Emperor Scorpion, Honey Bee, Stingray or Copperhead: They are not listed as "hot" on the toxicology pages, but MANY people can have an allergic reaction to the venom (not poison) and die as a result. As a previous owner of Rattlesnakes, Scorpions, Tarantulas (including the Goliath Bird-eating Spider, the largest spider on the planet), I concur that NONE of the "less-dangerous" organisms that have the use of a venom apparatus or poison should be taken lightly. They must be respected and given a wide berth. Those who insist on keeping such creature should REALLY do their homework and wear protective clothing/equipment when handling, cleaning tanks or ANY other high-risk behavior that could place you in jeopardy.

Also, the term "Poisonous" is usually refering to something that is ingested or absorbed, while the word "Venomous" refers to an appendage or apparatus that has a groove to INJECT a toxic enzyme, such as a snake's fang, the spines of a Lionfish, Conesnail or Stingray, a scorpion's stinger, Jellyfish and also the Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Examples of a POISONOUS animal would be the Marine Toad or Cane Toad (Bufo marinus), Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), Great Barracuda(Sphyraena barracuda), some corals (and some corals are venomous as well, such as Fire Coral), Puffers (Tetraodontidae), and just about anything that can hurt you, make you sick or kill you from ingesting or absorbing their toxins WITHOUT being stung, so more or less "passively infected".

Hope this was helpful, Folks....and be careful what you touch....and if you are allergic to bee-stings, chances are VERY HIGH that you will have a highly-allergic reaction to other toxins.